Compare Listings

New Housing Starts in Sask. off to slow start in 2019

A new report by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows that new housing starts in Saskatchewan are off to a slow start in 2019, as they are in most parts of the country.

The CMHC says that in February of 2019, there were a total of 72 housing starts in Saskatchewan, down from 221 in February of 2018, a drop of 67 percent year-over-year.

The drop in Saskatchewan reflects the state of the housing market across the Country right now. Nationwide, Housing Starts in February were down by 29 percent from February of 2018. Saskatchewan had the second highest percentage drop of housing starts in February of 2019. Only Prince Edward Island had a higher percentage drop, going from 30 starts in 2018, to 6 starts in 2019 – a drop of 80 percent.

The City of Regina saw a decrease in housing starts in February 2019 compared to February 2018. Last year there were 140 housing starts in February in Regina, but this year there were only 27 – a drop of 81 percent!

In Saskatoon there were 70 housing starts in February of 2018, and 42 in February of 2019, a drop of 40 percent.

New mortgage rules which are making it tougher for first-time home buyers to obtain mortgages, and a sluggish economy are being largely blamed for the slow-down in the housing industry in the past year.